Betty Friedan

Betty Friedan (4 February 1921-4 February 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist who was best-known as the author of The Feminine Mystique in 1963 and her leadership of the National Organization for Women (which she founded) from 1966 to 1970.

Biography
Bettye Naomi Goldstein was born in Peoria, Illinois, United States in 1921. She became a suburban mother of three after graduating from Smith College, and she became active with Jewish and socialist circles. Her first book, The Feminine Mystique (1963), was seen as marking the beginning of the second wave of feminism in America, and her frustrations and insights struck a chord with women across the USA. The book criticized what Friedan saw as a concerted campaign, since the end of World War II, to convince American women that they could only achieve happiness through marriage and motherhood. It was this "happy homemaker" ideology that was the "feminine mystique". In contrast to Simone de Beauvoir in France, Friedan was highly practical, founding the National Organization for Women in 1966 and serving as its president until 1970. Two of her subsequent books, It Changed My Life (1976) and The Second Stage (1981), dealt with feminism and the women's movement. She won numerous awards, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award in 1989. Friedan died in 2006.